Canadian retail property could be hurt by new trade deal

Canadian retail property could be hurt by new trade deal

Canadian retailers will probably face increased competition for online sales because of a change in a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that will raise the minimum threshold for cross-border purchases subject to duties to $150 from $20. “This could affect the retail property market,” said Saul Gautieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. “A lot of online retailers are also bricks-and-mortar sellers, and they will see fewer American buyers of their product . . .”

CoStar Group – CBC – CBC

Investors pour money into global CRE markets: AY

Capital continues to flow into global CRE markets, inhibited only by the scarcity of available product for sale. Yields on CRE are still attractive when compared with alternative investments; however, limited supply and cap-rate compression are leading some investors to seek opportunities outside their traditional parameters. These are some of the key trends noted in Avison Young’s Fall 2018 North America and Europe Commercial Real Estate Investment Review.

Canada Newswire

Calgary sees 1.3M sq. ft. of Q3 industrial absorption: C&W

Calgary’s struggling economy may still be slowly recovering from the punishing recession years of 2015 and 2016, but the city’s industrial real estate market is booming. Sean Ferguson, associate vice-president in industrial sales and leasing at Cushman & Wakefield in Calgary, said optimism is strong in the market. Net absorption was 1.3 million square feet in Q3, up 32 per cent from 2017 and greater than the total results in 2015 and 2016 combined.

Property Biz Canada

Trudel Alliance: 20 years of growth in Quebec

William Trudel started his real estate career in his early 20s when he bought a small, one-bedroom condo and rented it out. Flash-forward about 20 years later and Trudel Alliance, the Quebec City-based real estate investment firm he runs with his brother Jonathan, is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including the 144-store Fleur de Lys shopping centre in Quebec City. Trudel bought the latter from KingSett Capital for $60 million.

Property Biz Canada

Allied provides leasing update on Cité Multimédia

Allied Properties (AP.UN-T) Tuesday provided a leasing update on Cité Multimédia, the cornerstone of the REIT’s Montréal portfolio. Having occupied 114,319 square feet of GLA at the property for eight years, an existing user agreed to extend its lease for a term of 10 years commencing Oct. 1, 2020. The user has also agreed to expand its GLA at the property by 74,553 square feet in three phases between Nov. 1, 2018, and July 1, 2019.

Globe Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Imperial Equities acquires Leduc’s Dynomax Building

Imperial Equities Inc. (IEI-X) Tuesday announced it has completed the purchase of the Dynomax Building located at 7501 – 42 Street in Leduc, Alta. The transaction with 1917733 Alberta Ltd., is in the amount of $9 million. The 41,630-square-foot building is situated on 3.81 acres of prime industrial land with excellent exposure to major thoroughfares in the Leduc/Nisku/Edmonton industrial region. The property serves as headquarters for Dynomax Drilling Tools Inc.

Canada Newswire

Record year for acquisitions for Killam Apartment REIT

Killam Apartment REIT  (KMP-UN-T) has continued its recent buying spree with an announcement Tuesday it has made $88 million worth of residential acquisitions in three provinces. The purchases in P.E.I., Alberta and Ontario push Killam’s 2018 total to a record $263 million in acquisitions. It might not be done yet, either, according to president and CEO Philip Fraser.

Property Biz Canada

B+H designs PCL Toronto’s new LEED v4 office space

PCL Toronto has settled into its new Oakville office space in Westbury International Centre, which reflects both its heritage and future as Canada’s largest construction company. “Our previous space served us well for more than 25 years,” said PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (Toronto) senior vice-president and district manager Todd Craigen of the former location at 2085 Hurontario St. in Mississauga. “However, it was dated and in need of a major renovation.”

Sustainable Biz Canada

Co-working just keeps growing in Vancouver

Co-working office providers are continuing to sweep up downtown Vancouver office space as the business model shows no signs of slowing down. In September, Spaces, the communal office space brand under the IWG Plc umbrella, announced it is taking 120,000 square feet at the new 400 West Georgia St. tower, a project being developed by Allied and Westbank Corp. That building is expected to open in 2022.

Vancouver Sun – Property Biz Canada

Melcor celebrates 50 years as a public company

Melcor Developments (MRD-T) Monday celebrated its 50^th year as a publicly traded company which was formed when several predecessor companies were amalgamated into Melton Real Estate Ltd. In the 1968 annual report, president Stan Melton expressed: “Your directors are very pleased with the performance of the company to date and look forward with confidence and optimism to a continued yearly increase in net earnings and expansion of the company’s activities.”

Globe Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Tear down the Gardiner? It’s a billion-dollar question

On Sunday, Toronto mayoral candidate and former chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat committed to bringing down the eastern stretch of the Gardiner Expressway if elected, rather than rebuild it as an elevated highway. Keesmaat has drawn a contrast between herself and Mayor John Tory. Almost any way you view it – the money, the environmental effects, the impact on a new neighbourhood, the symbolism – Tory has this issue wrong.

Globe and Mail

Swiss electronics firm sets up N.A. HQ in Windsor

A Swiss-based firm specializing in automotive electronics and lighting is quietly setting up its North American headquarters in Windsor and pledging to create 148 jobs — including high-tech research and development positions — within five years. APAG Elektronik Corp.’s $11-million investment is transforming the former Fed Ex building on Rhodes Drive into a pristinely clean facility for the development and production of electronic components.

Windsor Star

Underground largely forgotten in Portage and Main debate

The battle over Winnipeg’s Portage and Main rages on today as it has for decades, fuelled currently by debate over the non-binding vote attached to the upcoming civic election, with two camps clearly entrenched on either keeping the corner closed to pedestrian traffic or bringing down the barriers. What has been largely forgotten is that below the street and away from traffic is a weird and wonderful space.

CBC

LNG project will change how homes, businesses use power

The euphoria over the big ticket news about LNG still lingered in the air Tuesday when provincial officials briefed the press gallery on technical details and next steps regarding the multi-billion dollar project. For starters, not all of the much-touted $40 billion investment by LNG Canada will be spent in B.C. About $16 billion will be spent off shore constructing and transporting the component modules.

Vancouver Sun

Prologis completes sale of $1.1-billion portfolio

Prologis Inc. (PLD-N), the world’s largest owner and developer of warehouses, has sold a $1.1-billion portfolio of domestic and international properties as it makes good on its plan to take advantage of strong market for industrial property by shedding “non-strategic” assets. The San Francisco-based REIT sold 86 properties in the U.S. and Europe totaling 16.5 million square feet plus 144 acres of land to an Asia-based property company for $1.1 billion. 

CoStar Group – PR Newswire

Market Trends and Research

Pace of interest rate hikes expected to pick up

The new North American trade deal struck on Sunday might open the door for the Bank of Canada to pick up the pace of interest rate hikes, according to economists at some of the country’s biggest banks. With the introduction of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an October rate hike by the central bank now appears to be a lock, analysts say, with more expected to follow in 2019.

Financial Post

Real Estate Companies

PSP Investments buys U.K. port group’s shares

Forth Ports Limited, one of the U.K.’s largest port groups, announced this morning Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1 LP has agreed to sell its shares in the company to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. After financial completion, PSP Investments will partner with other long-term investors who are well aligned to support the future growth of Forth Ports.

Canada Newswire

Dundee Corporation announces Parq Vancouver update

Dundee Corporation (DC-A-T) announced Parq Equity Limited Partnership has entered into an agreement whereby an industry investor has provided PELP with an unsecured convertible loan for $20 million. Dundee is a significant but non-controlling investor in PELP, which is an indirect majority owner of Parq Vancouver. Parq Vancouver features two luxury hotels which include a JW Marriott and the DOUGLAS, an Autograph Collection Hotel.

Globe Newswire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

AHIP announces unit purchases by new CEO John O’Neill

American Hotel Income Properties REIT (HOT-UN-T) Tuesday confirmed John O’Neill has joined the company as CEO, a move which was previously announced on Sept. 12. O’Neill has since purchased an additional 154,400 units through open market purchases, increasing the number of AHIP units he owns or shares control over to 971,465 units, representing 1.24 per cent of the company.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Boardwalk honoured for corporate communication

Boardwalk REIT (BEI.UN-T)  announced it was the recipient of the Bronze Vision Award by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) in their 2017 international annual report competition. The Vision Awards is an international annual report competition that recognizes outstanding performance in corporate communication.  Companies are evaluated on the quality of information provided on their financials, message clarity, information accessibility, shareholder relations, design, and creativity.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Retail

Retailers bucking major Black Friday trend

Black Friday sales’ start times have continued to creep earlier as retailers look to max out on one of the biggest shopping days of the year. This has meant that many stores opened their doors the day before, on Thanksgiving. Sears did so in 2010, Walmart in 2011, then Target in 2012. However, several retailers and mall owners have bucked the trend in recent years by refusing to open their doors early.

Business Insider

Toys ‘R’ Us lenders cancel auction, plan to revive brand

The top lenders of Toys ‘R’ Us have cancelled the bankruptcy auction of its brand name and other intellectual property assets and instead plan to revive the Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us brand names. The bankrupt retailer’s debtors aim to open a new Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us branding company that maintains existing global license agreements and can invest and develop new retail shops.

Reuters – Toronto Star

Cannabis industry news

CannaRoyalty acquires vape retailer 180 Smoke

An Ottawa-based cannabis company is hoping to open the door to new markets for its substantial California pot holdings with the acquisition of a Canadian vape retailer. CannaRoyalty (CRZ-CN), which owns a portfolio of cannabis brands, growers and distributors, announced it had acquired 180 Smoke, its 420 Wellness subsidiary and its 26 retail locations across Canada.

Ottawa Business Journal

New Development

Steel integral to Canoe Landing’s new ‘frontyard and backyard’

A sloping green roof and an accompanying “veil cladding” are the signature pieces of a new facility being built in a high-rise community on Toronto’s waterfront near historic Fort York. Designed by ZAS Architects + Interiors Inc. and being built in joint venture by the Atlas Corporation and Buttcon Limited, the Canoe Landing Community Facility is comprised of a school and a community centre structurally independent of each other.

ConstructConnect

RRC builds on innovative approach to education

The excavation and piling work has begun on Red River College’s $95-million Innovation Centre just north of the Roblin Building on its downtown Winnipeg campus, and is on schedule to be completed in the fall of 2020. The building is necessary for purely expansionary reasons and will bring an additional 1,200 students and staff to the Exchange District on top of the 2,500 already there.

Winnipeg Free Press

International

Avison Young to lease 281,000-sq.-ft. office space in Fort Lauderdale

Avison Young has been selected to lease 200 East Las Olas, a more than 281,000-square-foot office tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The company’s principal Greg Martin, vice-president Justin Cope and associate Liesa Hernandez will work on behalf of the ownership, a global real estate investment manager and a local partner. Located at 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., the class-A building is close to various dining, shopping and entertainment venues.

CP Executive

Ernst & Young expands 5 Houston Center lease

Ernst & Young LLP has leased 120,827 square feet at 5 Houston Center, a 580,000-square-foot, class-A office tower in Houston from landlord Spear Street Capital. The relocation and extension will see EY move from its current home in the building at 1401 McKinney St. on floors 11 to 14 up to floors 21 to 25.

CP Executive

Other

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